"Roses are red..." (1879, 1880)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

   Has Fred Shapiro found the origin of this?  I haven't yet checked the AMERICAN PERIODICAL SERIES ONLINE or the MOA databases, but I spotted two of them just now.


   14 February 1879, CINCINNATI DAILY ENQUIRER, "St. Valentine's Day," pg. 8, col. 4:
   Far different from these is a stanza which is a great favorite with young girls on this day, offered indiscriminately, and of course quite innocently, to most of their acquaintances:
   "The rose is red,
      The violet's blue;
   Pinks are sweet,
      And so are you."


(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
  WHO'S YOUR VALENTINE?; And What Kind Will You Send Her Next Saturday?; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Feb 9, 1880; pg. 1, 1 pgs
   Years ago, when our fathers and mothers "courted," the preparation of valentines was a matter of some moment and care.  And at last when it was finished and gorgeous in red and blue and lace, with a poplentiful smearing of flour paste, the bashful swain wrote in the centre, perhaps, carefully crossing the "t's" and dotting the "is's:"
   "As sure as grass grows 'round the stump,
   I'll take you for my sugar-lump."
Or--
   "If you love me as I love you,
   No knife can cut our love in two."
And she, in return:
   "The rose is red, the violet's blue;
   Sugar is sweet and so are you."